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4 May 2011

Winners of the inaugural Art Music Awards announced


Winners of the inaugural Art Music Awards announced

[Links updated 10 May. See also: Photo Gallery]

Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australian Music Centre (AMC) have announced the winners of the inaugural Art Music Awards, the only national event in Australia to acknowledge the enormous achievement and creative successes of Australian performers and composers in the genres of contemporary art music, jazz and experimental music.

The gala event held at the Sydney Theatre, Walsh Bay on Tuesday 3rd May 2011 honoured winners across nine national categories and seven State Awards, spanning performance, composition, outstanding contributions to Australian music by individuals and organisations, music education and regional music. An additional Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music, as determined by the Board of Directors of APRA and the AMC, was also presented. The Awards were hosted by Julian Morrow of ABC TV's The Chaser, and featured live performances from a selection of Award finalists including Paul Stanhope, Johannes Luebbers Dectet, Ensemble Offspring, Clocked Out and an installation work by Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey.

This year, Sydney-based composer Paul Stanhope has been honoured with two national Awards: Instrumental Work of the Year, for his beautifully imaginative piece String Quartet No. 2 (performed by Pavel Haas Quartet), and Vocal/Choral Work of the Year, for his exceptionally well-crafted work, Deserts of Exile (taken from Stanhope's Exile Lamentations choral cycle performed by the Choir of Trinity College Cambridge conducted by Stephen Layton).

Orchestral Work of the Year was awarded to James Ledger's Chronicles, with finely balanced textures that demonstrate Ledger's mature and original voice. This work was performed by the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (conductor Paul Daniel), where Ledger was composer in residence from 2007 to 2009.

Also a performer at the Art Music Awards, West Australian Johannes Luebbers received the distinction of Jazz Work of the Year for the bold and intelligent big band work Ashes to Ashes, performed by the Johannes Luebbers Dectet.

A work musing on the creative connections between art and science took out the Performance of the Year Award. Winning artists, soprano Jane Sheldon and Ensemble Offspring conducted by Roland Peelman, were recognised for their excellent accuracy and tonal polish for their performance of the collaborative project, The Origin Cycle.

Winner of the Award for Excellency by and Organisation or Individual was Clocked Out for their annual programs. Under Erik Griswold and Vanessa Tomlinson's direction, their 2009-2010 season premiered over 15 new compositions, included three international tours, and involved significant community engagement projects in regional Australia.

The Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre has been recognised with the Award for Excellence in Music Education, in particular for their music education program based in Western Sydney, 'Composer-in-Focus 2010 with Ross Edwards', where students were given the opportunity to participate in a composition workshop with an established composer and the high-calibre performers of Ensemble Offspring.

The Four Winds Festival, held every two years in Bermagui on the New South Wales south coast, received the Award for Excellence in a Regional Area. Genevieve Lacey, artistic director for 2010-2012, has been commended for the 2010 season's diverse and exciting mix of local and international artists, as well as their outreach programs to communities and schools.

Finally, the inaugural Award for Excellence in Experimental Music was taken out by Cat Hope for Decibel's 2009/2010 annual program. Under Hope's artistic direction, Decibel, has undertaken 11 commissions for new Australian work, ten performances, toured interstate and performed at leading new music conferences and had four live broadcasts for ABC radio.

As already announced, the Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music was shared between John Hopkins OBE and Patrick Thomas OBE, and both conductors were honoured at the event for their incredible and ongoing contribution to Australian music.

State Awards

In addition to the national Awards above, APRA and AMC committees in each state and territory determined seven State Awards. The State Awards recognise local artists and composers in one of the nine national categories.

The ACT State Award recognised 'The Voss Journey' produced by the National Film and Sound Archive, Canberra International Music Festival, National Library of Australia in the category of Excellence by an Organisation.'The Voss Journey' was a collaborative effort inspired by Patrick White's iconic novel Voss, published in 1956, and culminated in four days of seminars, concerts, films and exhibitions investigating the fictional journeys of Johan Ulrich and his historical counterpart Ludwig Leichhardt.

In New South Wales, the State Award again honoured Excellence by an Organisation, this time by Moorambilla Voices children's choir. Over the past five years Moorambilla Voices and the associated festival event held in Coonamble, has given hundreds of children from regional and remote New South Wales the opportunity to take part in the festival and participate in music workshops in their local areas.

In addition to winning the national Award for Excellence by an Organisation or Individual, Clocked Out were successful in taking out the Queensland State Award for Excellence by an Organisation or Individual, for their 2009-2010 Annual Programs.

Both Tasmania and South Australia honoured composers for Instrumental Works of the Year. The South Australian State Award went to Grant Sheridan for his piece Airborne, a set of works for strings inspired by poems of redemption, peace and freedom, while in Tasmania, Michael Kieran Harvey received recognition for his homage to the late and legendary composer Frank Zappa, 48 Fugues for Frank.

Recorder virtuoso Genevieve Lacey received the Victorian State Award for Performance of the Year for her work En Masse, a piece that incorporates a concert performance, film, and sound installations. Alongside Lacey were collaborators Marc Silver, Lawrence English, John Rodgers, Jim Atkins, Steve Adam, Ben Frost, Nico Muhly, dj olive, Christian Fennesz, Taylor Deupree.

Already a winner of the national Award for Excellence in Experimental Music, artistic director Cat Hope also received the West Australian State Award in the category of Excellence in Experimental Music, again for Decibel's 2009-2010 Annual Program, which had an incredibly prolific year of creative output.

APRA and the AMC congratulate all of this year's winners on their outstanding achievements.

The Art Music Awards, presented by Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australian Music Centre (AMC) consist of ten national awards and various State Awards across categories covering composition, performance, and outstanding contributions by individuals and organisations in Australian music, music education and regional music. Formerly staged as the Classical Music Awards, the 2011 Art Music Awards have been restructured to include two new categories: Jazz Work of the Year and Award for Excellence in Experimental Music.

2011 Art Music Awards - winners

Distinguished Services To Australian Music
Conductor John Hopkins OBE
Conductor Patrick Thomas OBE

Work of the Year: Instrumental
Paul Stanhope: String Quartet No. 2, performed by Pavel Haas Quartet

Work of the Year: Orchestral
James Ledger: Chronicles, performed by West Australian Symphony Orchestra and Paul Daniel (conductor)

Work of the Year: Vocal/Choral
Paul Stanhope: Deserts of Exile (text Jabra Ibrahim Jabra, published by University of California Press), performed by Choir of Trinity College Cambridge
Stephen Layton (conductor)

Work of the Year: Jazz
Johannes Luebbers: Ashes to Ashes, performed by Johannes Luebbers Dectet

Performance of the Year
Jane Sheldon (soprano), Ensemble Offspring and Roland Peelman (conductor) for The Origin Cycle, composed by Elliott Gyger, Kate Neal, Barry Conyngham, Rosalind Page, Elena Kats-Chernin, Nicholas Vines, Paul Stanhope, Dan Walker

Award for Excellence by an Organisation or an Individual
Clocked Out: 2009/2010 Annual Programs

Award for Excellence in Music Education
Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre: Composer-in-Focus 2010 with Ross Edwards

Award for Excellence in a Regional Area
Four Winds Festival: 2010 Festival in Bermagui, NSW

Award for Excellence in Experimental Music
Cat Hope: Decibel's 2009/2010 Annual Programs

ACT State Award
National Film and Sound Archive, Canberra International Music Festival, National Library of Australia: 'The Voss Journey'
Category: Award for Excellence by an Organisation

New South Wales State Award
Moorambilla Voices: Moorambilla Festival
Category: Award for Excellence by an Organisation

Queensland State Award
Clocked Out: 2009/2010 Annual Programs
Category: Award for Excellence by an Organisation

South Australian State Award
Grant Sheridan: Airborne
Category: Instrumental Work of the Year

Tasmanian State Award
Michael Kieran Harvey: 48 Fugues for Frank
Category: Instrumental Work of the Year

Victorian State Award
Genevieve Lacey: En masse
Composers: Genevieve Lacey, Marc Silver, Lawrence English, John Rodgers, Jim Atkins, Steve Adam, Ben Frost, Nico Muhly, dj olive, Christian Fennesz, Taylor Deupree
Category: Performance of the Year

West Australian State Award
Cat Hope: Decibel's 2009/2010 Annual Programs
Category: Award for Excellence in Experimental Music

Further links

Art Music Awards 2011 - Photo Gallery (AMC Online)
Art Music Awards - AMC Online
Art Music Awards - winners (APRA)
Art Music Awards 2011 - Distinguished Services Award to Hopkins and Thomas (Resonate article 29 April 2011)
Art Music Awards 2011 - finalists announced (Resonate article 7 April 2011)
'Paul Stanhope's double take at the Art Music Awards' (Limelight)



The Australian Music Centre connects people around the world to Australian composers and sound artists. By facilitating the performance, awareness and appreciation of music by these creative artists, it aims to increase their profile and the sustainability of their art form. Established in 1974, the AMC is now the leading provider of information, resources, materials and products relating to Australian new music.


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